Curb appeal – our latest spring project
March 10, 2019Announcing the newest project in our portfolio – Improving curb appeal on a budget
Looking at the front of your home in the doldrums of winter can really get you blue, especially if your landscaping is lacking. In our newest spring project we’ll be taking on a big face lift to enhance the curb appeal, bringing some needed warmth to the home and the neighborhood on a shoestring budget… Or turn it into a nightmare if we mess it up.
Why is it a good idea add a landscaping project to your front lot?
Plain and simple, curb appeal adds value to your home. A 2015 report from the Washington Post estimates an increase of 5% – 20% in overall home value (not to mention some pretty good tips).
It doesn’t matter if you’re selling, buying or just plain living, curb appeal is a subjective thing. It usually factors in things like house color, setback and how well maintained, neat, and clean things are. It’s not all about the size, shape or condition of the house though, landscaping can really make or break the look. A mangy unkempt lawn, weeds everywhere and no defined edges would make an otherwise perfect house into something from a serial killer mystery movie. Also, nothing screams crazy person with a thousand cats more than a front lot covered in medium height flowers of every variety mixed with religious statues and birdbaths and no ground cover.
Gardening is a very personal thing. Gardening is a lot like a tattoo… You like what you like and the reasoning is your own. When it comes to designing a garden with purpose, like giving your home curb appeal, it means that you have to factor in your own likes with ease of maintenance, fitting in to the neighborhood, AND something that others will either enjoy – or – be able to ignore.
That last bit – ignore can be a little tough to swallow when you’re a gardener… you’re thinking who wouldn’t enjoy the beauty of a well planned garden? There sure are some whakadoo crazy people in this world that don’t think leaf babies are wonderful. For this curb appeal project, we want to make things pleasing, or at least toned down enough for them too.
Project details
As with all of our projects, our curb appeal project will be divided into parts
Estimation and planning are a great way to cure spring fever in colder months. Even though we can’t be outside, we can think about being outside and get ready to have lots of fun. They give us a way to control cost, carve out time, and make sure all the details are accounted for. Execution is when the real fun happens, lots of sweat and sore muscles make for a big reward in the end.
We will come back and update this article as things move along. Between posts, leave comments or questions here, or reach out to @leafbabies on twitter.
